London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Battersea 1927
Report on the health of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea for the year 1927
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Dental facilities for tuberculosis patients were provided by
the Council in 1922. A weekly session is held at the Dental Centre,
Plough Road, and patients requiring treatment or the provision of
dentures are referred to the Clinic by the Tuberculosis Medical
Officer.
Institutional treatment is provided by the London County
Council for Battersea patients, this form of treatment being
arranged for in the majority of cases through the Tuberculosis
Dispensary.
Dr. Macdonald, Tuberculosis Medical Officer, reports:—
The shortage of suitable and adequate housing accommodation
has made the segregation of the Tuberculous patient in his own
home in many cases an impossibility, so that unless the patient
is willing to be removed to an institution and the authorities are
willing to keep the patient in an institution for an indefinite period,
there is great risk of the spread of infection to other members of
the family. During the past year the home conditions under
which 182 patients were living at the time of the Dispensary nurses'
first visit were good in 80 cases, fair in 70 and bad in the remaining
32.
The following table shows the changes which resulted in the home conditions as a result of the visits of the Dispensary nurses:—
| Patient having own room. | Own bed sharing room. | Sharing bed and room. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| At time of first visit | 55 | 30 | 97 |
| At end of 1927 | 67 | 33 | 82 |
Where husband and wife, having their own bedroom, share
the same bed, and either is the patient, the home conditions are
considered to be good according to the London County Council's
classification of home conditions. It is evident from the foregoing
figures that the home conditions of Tuberculous patients residing
in the Borough are far from satisfactory.
The number of new patients attending the Dispensary during
the year was 16 fewer than in the previous year, and the number of
"contacts" examined 13 less than in 1926. Fewer attendances
were made at the Dispensary by patients, the number being 4,180
as against 4,686 in 1926. The Dispensary is, in the main, a centre
for diagnosis and observation rather than an out-patient department
for treatment. As far as possible it is desirable that the
treatment of the patient should be undertaken by his own doctor
and not through the Dispensary. In many cases, however, the
nature and chronicity of the disease, necessitating treatment over